[Rctini]

On my past vehicles I normally have used a brush-less car wash. There have been studies that show that hand washing may be harder on a vehicles finish than a automatic car wash.
I normally use a brush-less car wash where I stay in vehicle, leave vehicle running in neutral.

Now there are risks with all the high tech safety features. I have attached a picture of article on 14 vehicle brands that require deactivation of safety systems before automatic car wash.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-...ar-by-hand-versus-using-an-automatic-car-wash

I am sure there are many opinions and studies for both methods.

What are you all doing?

 

[Rctini]

Here are two articles on High Tech cars and automatic car washes.
Before roads, driverless tech must conquer car washes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgor...-being-confounded-by-car-washes/#756652b82784

 

[gb1728]

I detail cars for fun. Learned after my brand new 3 series of few years back got rear ended. After it spent 40 or so days in the shop waiting on parts from Germany it came back with really bad overspray. I was forced to learn.

The best way to wash your car is as follows.

2 buckets (1 rinse and 1 to wash) use a highly lubricanting good soap. There is a difference in style of soap. Lubing retains previous waxing/sealing, using a dish soap or a more strippbig style of soap is only when you intend of reapplying wax/sealant while also claying and polishing. Also use a grit guard, it's a fancy piece of plastic that sits at the bottom of the bucket to keep the sediment at the bottom.

Use a good wool/sheep fur mit, not a sponge.

Wash in either up/down or side/side motion, no circles! Wash from top of car down, from most soiled to least soiled section of car. Rinse mit with hose and bucket between each washing of panel. Use a ton of water and keep the car wet to avoid water spotting.

Dry initially with a leaf blower. Yes a leaf blower then with a quality waffle weave microfiber towel. Auto store towels are not quality. Dry in same direction as you washed, still no circles!!

Wash rims and tires last with a specific rim/tire mitt.

That is a typical good wash. After these steps you can move on to claying, polishing, sealing and waxing.

A touchless wash is great for upkeep. I would not rely on them for all of your washing needs. Everyone thinks a cars paint it flat. Microscopically it looks like a mountain range. A car wash will never do as well as your own 2 hands without causing major damage, swirl marks and halograming. All of which can only be corrected professionally or by a car detail nerd like me.

You should do a full detail (wash, clay, polish, seal and wax) 1-2 times a year if you truely care about your cars paint. It should take 8+ hours if you are alone.

See Detailed Image - Premium Auto Detailing and Car Care Products and read their articles. I personally like poorboys and chemical guy products. Their starter kits that include a random orbit buffer are really a great bang for the buck.

I am in the NE Ohio area if anyone local has further questions PM me.

 

[PlatinumHybrid]

Gb1728 has given some great advice. I also detail cars for a hobby, but I do things a bit differently (but overall, the methodology is largely the same). I also use the 2-bucket method, but in addition I use a third bucket exclusively for wheels and tires (lots of sharp, nasty debris from brake dust), and I use two grit guards zip-tied with a washboard in each bucket (So a total of 6 grit guards and three washboards). Once setup, it makes cleaning your mitt or other washing media really easy and very effective. I attached pics so you can check it out (I use a red one in the paint-safe bucket, and black ones in the rinse and tire/wheel buckets).
Here is the video for using zip ties to secure grit guards (not me in the video, just a good video I found about the subject):

And I do the wheels first, then the rest of the vehicle. My theory is that any oversplash from the tires will be cleaned when the paint is cleaned, and the wheels get a second "washing" as soap is rinsed from the rest of the vehicle. Neither way is wrong, just personal preference.

I also like Chemical Guys products, particularly Clay Luber. But there are some great products available at your local Advance Auto or Walmart that are of high quality if used correctly (Meguiar's Ultimate series is excellent when used correctly). And if you'd like to get into machine polishing, I'd recommend the Griot's Garage 6" Polisher. Change out the backing plate to a 5" and use 5.5" pads for maximum effect (but still safe and easy to learn to use). And the GG6 has a lifetime warranty!

Good luck and enjoy your new ride!

 

[II Kings 9:20]

Not germane to the tech issue but for all cars: CLAY, CLAY, CLAY. I always use clay to remove grit and grime that sticks to the paint that even the best detergent can't remove.

Ever notice the white wax applicator turns grey during use? That is dirt that you didn't remove being removed by the petroleum distillates in the wax and creating either swirls or lines in the paint depending on how you move the applicator.

Let me google that for you

 

[WindyB]

I detail cars for fun. Learned after my brand new 3 series of few years back got rear ended. After it spent 40 or so days in the shop waiting on parts from Germany it came back with really bad overspray. I was forced to learn.

The best way to wash your car is as follows.

2 buckets (1 rinse and 1 to wash) use a highly lubricanting good soap. There is a difference in style of soap. Lubing retains previous waxing/sealing, using a dish soap or a more strippbig style of soap is only when you intend of reapplying wax/sealant while also claying and polishing. Also use a grit guard, it's a fancy piece of plastic that sits at the bottom of the bucket to keep the sediment at the bottom.

Use a good wool/sheep fur mit, not a sponge.

Wash in either up/down or side/side motion, no circles! Wash from top of car down, from most soiled to least soiled section of car. Rinse mit with hose and bucket between each washing of panel. Use a ton of water and keep the car wet to avoid water spotting.

Dry initially with a leaf blower. Yes a leaf blower then with a quality waffle weave microfiber towel. Auto store towels are not quality. Dry in same direction as you washed, still no circles!!

Wash rims and tires last with a specific rim/tire mitt.

That is a typical good wash. After these steps you can move on to claying, polishing, sealing and waxing.

A touchless wash is great for upkeep. I would not rely on them for all of your washing needs. Everyone thinks a cars paint it flat. Microscopically it looks like a mountain range. A car wash will never do as well as your own 2 hands without causing major damage, swirl marks and halograming. All of which can only be corrected professionally or by a car detail nerd like me.

You should do a full detail (wash, clay, polish, seal and wax) 1-2 times a year if you truely care about your cars paint. It should take 8+ hours if you are alone.

See Detailed Image - Premium Auto Detailing and Car Care Products and read their articles. I personally like poorboys and chemical guy products. Their starter kits that include a random orbit buffer are really a great bang for the buck.

I am in the NE Ohio area if anyone local has further questions PM me.

I just bought my 2021 Pacifica S and loaded up on detailing goodies.....watching various detsiling channels on YouTube.
Bought the Karsher K5 Premiun and want to.upgrade hose.
Many videos praise Uberflex and Flexilla ( which are made by same company with same patent #)

Any recommendations ? I'm in Canada and not a pro detailer so no need to go over the top.

G